ARHI 2300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 69: Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Gum Arabic, Edgar Degas
Document Summary
Charcoal smudges easily, creates lines that can be easily shaped and altered, usually has strong dark value, and is soft compared to metal-based drawing materials. Artists choose charcoal as a drawing material when they want to express strong dark tones, add interest to a surface, and make something look solid rather than linear. Vine charcoal is made from thin vine branches and is very soft and easily erased. Compressed charcoal, to which a binding agent such as wax is sometimes added, is much denser. To draw with charcoal, an artist drags the stick across a fibrous surface, usually paper, leaving a soft-edged line. Ea(cid:272)h li(cid:374)e a(cid:374)d (cid:271)le(cid:373)ish o(cid:374) this (cid:449)o(cid:373)a(cid:374)"s fa(cid:272)e has (cid:271)ee(cid:374) (cid:272)arefully re(cid:374)dered. The (cid:272)har(cid:272)oal"s dark (cid:448)alue a(cid:272)(cid:272)e(cid:374)tuates the contrast between the highlights in the face and the overall darkened tone of the work. Lher(cid:373)itte has (cid:272)o(cid:374)trolled (cid:272)har(cid:272)oal"s i(cid:374)here(cid:374)t s(cid:373)udgi(cid:374)ess to offer an intimate view of the effects of aging.